Gun safety attachment



A. E. FISCHER GUN SAFETY ATTACHMENT Jan. 14, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 11, 1954 T. MN

- IINVENTOR. Ar/on E. F/scher Jan. 14, 1958 A. E. FISCHER 2,319,550

GUN SAFETY ATTACHMENT Filed June 11, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. AF/OF/ E. F/SC/76f" This invention relates to gun safety attachments.

An object of the invention is to provide a gun safety attachment which automatically keeps the trigger locked and out of firing position except while manual pressure is actually being applied to the release mechanism.

Another object of the invention is to provide a gun safety attachment having a release mechanism located in such a position on the gun that it may easily and naturally be held in the release position while the gun is being fired, but which is not likely to be struck or otherwise accidentally released while the gun is not in the firing position. I

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear from the following description considered in conjunction with the attached drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary side elevational view of a gun upon which an attachment of the present invention is installed.

Figure 2 is a view taken along the line 2-2 of Figure 1, showing the latch in the disengaged position.

Figure 3 is a detail View of the muzzle end of the barrel and the adjoining portion of the stock showing the exterior portion of the hand actuable release mechanism.

Figure 4 is a view taken along the line 4-4 of Figure 2, on an enlarged scale.

Figure 5 is a view taken along the line 5-5 of Figure 1, on an enlarged scale.

Figure 6 is a detail view of the bolt end of a gun barrel showing the trigger and the sear and showing a portion of the latch of the present invention and the latch engaging end of the release mechanism of the present invention.

Figure 7 is a view of the essential portions of Figure 6 viewed from the opposite side.

Figure 8 is a view taken along the line 88 of Figure 6, on an enlarged scale with the latch in the locking position.

Figure 9 is a view of the assembly of Figure 8 with the latch in the unlocked position.

Figure 10 is an enlarged detail view of the latch and the latch engaging end or" the release mechanism in the position as shown in Figure 2.

Referring now to the drawings in more detail, the reference numeral designates generally a gun, having a barrel 16, a receiver 16 on the rear end of the barrel, a magazine housing 18 beneath the receiver, a bolt 19, a bolt handle 21 a sight 21, a stock 22, a trigger guard 23 and a trigger 24. The trigger is pivoted at the point 25 of pivotal connection of the sear 17 to the receiver 16 and is actuable in the usual manner to cause movement of the sear 17 away from the receiver and against the urging of the sear spring 26, as shown in Figures 8 and 9. A safety attachment in accordance with the present invention, generally designated 27, is operatively connected to the receiver 16 and releasably engages the sear 17 for preventing the firing of the gun.

The safety attachment 27 includes a fiat spring latch bar 28 arranged exteriorly of and alongside of the magazine housing 19 and having a reduced lateral finger 29 on its rear end normally engaging the underside of the sear 17 at a point near the forward end of the sear. The latch bar 28 is connected to the magazine housing 18 for flexing from an engaged position in which the finger 29 engages the underside of the sear 17, as shown in Figure 8, to a release position in which the finger 29 is out of engagement with the underside of the sear 17, as shown in Figures 9 and 10. Specifically, the latch bar 28 consists of a strip of leaf spring arranged longitudinally along one side of the magazine housing 18 and having the reduced finger 29 positioned between the lower surface of the sear 17 and a shoulder 31 formed on the rear end of the magazine housing 18 and spaced below the sear 17 in such a position that the finger 29 holds the sear 17 against upward movement toward the barrel 16. Near its forward end the latch bar 28 is secured to the side of the magazine housing 18 by means of a screw 30.

The safety attachment 27 also includes a thrust imparting member 32 positioned along the side of and extending longitudinally of the stock 22 and connected to the stock for rearward and forward movement therealong. The near end of the member 32 is adjacent to and spaced from the finger 29 of the latch bar 28 and its forward end 34 is positioned adjacent the forward end of the stock 22. The member 32 consists of a flexible cable 35 slidably enclosed in a flexible casing 36. The member 32 is positioned in a groove 37 which extends longitudinally of the side of the stock 22 over which the bolt handle 20 projects and is covered by an oppositely grooved cover plate 38 which is secured to the stock by screws 39. The rear end of the casing 36 terminates in a metal collar 40, which is threadably secured to a lug 4'1 projecting from and adjacent to the rear end of the magazine housing 18. The complemental end of the cable 35- is provided with a stiff. metal tip 33 which extends slidably through the collar 40' and the lug 41, and therebcyond. In the normal position of the member 32, the tip 33 is out of contact with the finger 29 of the latch bar 28, as shown in Figure 8. The forward end 34 of the member 32 is bent and extends transversely through the adjacent portion of the stock 22 to the side of the stock 22 opposite to that in which the groove 37 is cut. At this end 34 the casing 36 terminates in a metal collar 42 and the end of the cable 35 extends slidably through the collar 42 and beyond the collar 42 the cable 35 terminates in a rigid tip 34. On the tip 34 is secured hand actuable means, consisting of a finger button 43, for causing the rearward movement of the member 32, specifically the sliding of the cable 35 in the casing 36 rearwardly so that the tip 33 projects further rearwardly from the collar 40, as shown in Figure 9, and engages and pushes the finger 29 of the latch bar 28 laterally to a position out of engagement with the sear 1'7.

Operatively connected to the member 32 for biasing the member 32 rearwardly, is resilient means consisting of a coiled spring 44 housed in the collar 42 and connected to the forward end of the cable 35. An enlarged opening 45 is cut in the side of the stock 22 surrounding the finger button 43 to permit the free inward and outward movement of the button 43 and the opening 45 is closed by a sheet 47 of leather, or other flexible material secured to portions of the stock surrounding the opening 45 by screws 46, the sheet 47 being effective to prevent the entrance of dirt or other foreign matter into the opening 45 while at the same time permitting finger pressure applied to the finger button 43 to move it inwardly.

From the foregoing description it will be apparent that in a gun equipped with the safety attachment of the present invention, the finger 29 of the latch bar 28 will at all times, except when pressure is applied to the finger button 43, be interposed between the sear 17 and the underlying Patented Jan. 14, 1958 3 shoulder 31 on the magazine housing 18, locking the sear 17 in its upward position and preventing rearward actuating movement of the trigger 24 which is rigidly secured to the sear 17. When it is desired to shoot the gun, it is not necessary, as'a preliminary operation, to search for and release some locking lever positioned upon the bolt or elsewhere. r The shooter need only raise the gun to his shoulder in the usual manner with a finger of one hand upon the trigger and the other hand grasping the forward end of the stock. In this position, the thumb of the forward hand will naturally come against the flexible sheet 47 covering the opening 45, which has been purposely located at this point to be accessible to the shooters thumb as the gun is being leveled on the target. A slight pressure by the thumb upon the'sheet 47 as the gun isbeing aimed is sufiicient to cause the inward movement of the finger button 43 which in turn causes rearward movement of the 'cable' 35 in the casing 36, so as to cause the tip 33 on the rear end of the cable 35 to extend further out of the collar 40 and engage and push the finger 29 of the latch bar 28 laterally outwardly from the latching position, shown in Figure 8, to the release position, shown in Figure 9, in which the finger 29 is clear of the sear 17, and thereby free the trigger 24 so that the gun can be fired. As soon as the gun has been fired and the shooters hand is removed from the forward portion of the stock, the cable 35 is returned to its normal forward position by the spring 44 and the resilient latch bar 28 returns to its normal latching position in which the finger 29 is again interposed in locking position between the sear '17 and the underlying shoulder 31 of the magazine housing 18, automatically returning the firing mechanism to its normal locked position. Thus, while the unlatching of the firing mechanism is a simple and natural process while the gun is actually being fired, the mechanism is actually unlocked only during the very short period in which the gun is being held in the firing position. Moreover, in view of the location and character of the latch releasing mechanism, the likelihood of accidental unlatching of the mechanism is practically nil,

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What is claimed is:

- -In combination, a gun including a barrel having a rear end, a receiver on the rear end of the barrel, a magazine housing on and depending from the receiver, a trigger assembly pivoted on the receiver below the receiver and rearwardly of the magazine housing, said assembly comprising a forwardly projecting sear having a forward end a and a trigger depending from the sear, said magazine housing having a rear end in the region of the forward end of the sear, said sear having an underside and said rear end of the magazine housing having a shoulder beneath the forward end of the sear, a latch for extending along and secured to a side of the magazine housing, said latch having a resilient rear end portion terminating in a finger normally projecting laterally inwardly into a latching position between said shoulder and the underside of the forward end of the scar, and manual means mounted on the gun and movable into engagement with said finger I for moving said fingerla'terally outwardly and free of the sear, said manual means comprising a cable mounted along the side of the gun remote from said latch, said cable having a rear end positioned to engage said finger and a for-- ward end, said forward end traversing; the gun toward the same side of the gun as the latch, and flexible button means on the last-mentioned side of the gun operable into engage ment with the forward end of the cable to push the cable rearwardly relative to the gun to move said finger free of the sear.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,788,246 Minondo Jan. 6, 1931 1,896,820 Jolidon Feb. 7,- 1933 2,041,661 Lepp May 19, 1936 2,380,140 Anderson July 10, 1945 2,482,842 Crockett Sept. 27, 1949 

